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Fire Plinth
The Fire plinth was an elemental platform encountered in Soul Reaver 2 that allowed the user to melt the ice on the Great Southern Lake and access the dock entrance of the Sarafan Stronghold. Operation of the Fire plinth depended upon the Fire Reaver. Profile *'Name:' The Fire Plinth *'Category:' Soul Reaver 2 terms *'Introduced:' • Soul Reaver 2 (2001) *'Architects:' Unknown *'Appearances:' *'Related Articles:' Fire Reaver (Soul Reaver 2), Fire, Shadow Bridge activation plates, Air plinths, Earth plinths Profile The Fire plinth was a unique elemental platform seen in Soul Reaver 2 as an application of the Fire Reaver. Only one fire plinth was encountered in the game and this was first seen relatively early on in A Reaver in Time, with Raziel exiting the Sarafan Stronghold via the Great Southern Lake and passing by the plinth by the stronghold's dock entrance on the 'outer' lake. At this stage the plinth was unusable and Raziel made no comment on it. The plinth would still be in place but was similarly unusable when Raziel returned to the lake in The Light Forge (chapter) and A Fateful Meeting. When Raziel travelled to the [[Era following Blood Omen|Era following Blood Omen]] he found the Fire plinth still intact and in position but likewise unusable. When Raziel continued his journey on to Nosgoth's early history, he could discover the plinth again at the now iced-over lake which blocked the dock entrance to the stronghold, offering his first clue as to its function, however once again it was initially unusable. After obtaining the Fire Reaver from the Fire forge within Janos Audron's Retreat, Raziel could return to the lake where the now-active plinth was positioned. Activating the plinth with the Fire Reaver caused a patch of ice to melt in front of the dock entrance allowing him to open the doors and re-enter the stronghold for the final time. Design and Usage The design of the fire plinth consisted of circular stone platform at the edge of the lake with a subtle grey border and four small rectangular 'feet' around the outside of the platform which seemed to anchor the structure into the ground. In the middle of the plinth another slightly raised circular platform of a slightly lighter tone was positioned slightly off-center and touching the border at the top, giving the impression of a brown-grey crescent moon shape when approached from the bottom. The Fire symbol decorated the center of the raised platform, with a small hole in the center of the middle circle which Raziel used to activate the plinth. At the edge of the lake the plinth could be seen to descend well underneath the waterline, forming a long cylindrical pillar that stretched nearly to the bottom of the lake, with the 'feet' seen above ground extending into rectangular struts. When the plinth was first seen in Soul Reaver 2 it was encountered in its inactive state, but when Raziel gained the Fire Reaver and activated the Fire-attuned Reaver fonts, the plinth was also activated and began issuing a subtle orange flame-like effect. Once in this state Raziel could activate the plinth simply by driving the Fire Reaver down through the opening on the central circle, which caused the ice on the lake to immediately melt in a pattern around the dock doorway. Notes *The Fire Plinth is not named or referred to in dialogue or stage directions and only the ice covering the lake is mentioned. The plinth is however named as such in Soul Reaver 2: Prima's Official Strategy Guide. *The Fire Plinth can only be seen in only one location in Soul Reaver 2 and it is the only application of its kind seen for its respective Reaver, a distinction it shares with the Engraved stone seen for the Light Reaver in the Air Forge. In contrast to the stone which is seen in only one time period, the fire plinth can be seen in all three eras, from the very start of the game in the [[History preceding Blood Omen|history preceding Blood Omen]], but can only be used in the final period in Nosgoth's early history. *Through the use of Debug menus and the like the Fire Reaver and plinth can be activated earlier than usual. In this instance the plinth will issue the usual activation glow as soon as the Fire Reaver is 'forged' or 'imbued' and the plinth can be activated as normal - no effect is seen in the [[History preceding Blood Omen|history preceding Blood Omen]] or [[Era following Blood Omen|Era following Blood Omen]], however the same distinctive sound effect can be heard; in Nosgoth's early history activating the Fire Reaver will cause the game to assume that Janos Audron's Retreat and the Fire Forge have been completed and cutscenes will continue from that point. *Given the deletion of several further Wraith Blade upgrades from Soul Reaver 2 and the presence of several icy areas, it is possible that further Fire plinths were intended to be used to access the corresponding areas but these were removed along with the areas themselves, leaving the Fire plinth as the only legacy (and only usable non-combat application for the Fire Reaver). Soul Reaver 2: Director's Interview - PlayStation 2 Feature at IGN (by Douglass Perry), page 6 Deleted Elemental Reavers at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln) The Debug Menu at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln) *No origin for the Fire plinth is explicitly given in game. The location of the plinth and its usage in unlocking the dock doorway of the Sarafan Stronghold could be taken to imply human construction; on the other hand its design, the association with the Fire Reaver and proximity to the nearby Light and Spirit forges in the inner lake area may point to an Ancient vampire construction. Gallery SR2-Texture-FirePlinth.png|Fire Plinth texture SR2-FirePlinth.png|Fire Plinth in game SR2-FirePlinth-Active.png|Active Fire Plinth See also *Fire Reaver (Soul Reaver 2) *Fire References Category:Terms Category:Terms/Soul Reaver 2 Category:Browse Category:Soul Reaver 2